A Beautiful Day for a Drive
by Rea
Summary: Dumbledore and Moody discover the automobile. Moody gets a new hat while Dumbledore gets a new nose.
1. Default Chapter

Author's Note: This plot bunny came to me when I was wondering what exactly the  
  
reaction of the wizarding world was when they discovered automobiles. Clearly,  
  
they must have gotten used to them in order to have the Knight Bus and to  
  
bewitch cars for their own use. So, I decided to put Albus Dumbledore and  
  
Alastor Moody in the uncomfortable position of test driving a brand new  
  
invention. This takes place somewhere around the same time the first cars came  
  
to be on the road, so they're much younger than they are in canon but I did  
  
decide to listen to some of my readers and made Moody younger than Dumbledore.  
  
A Beautiful Day for a Drive It was a shame, Albus Dumbledore thought as he looked out the window, to  
  
spend such a lovely day inside, researching on a project that could be finished  
  
just as easily tomorrow. Really, such lovely days happened so rarely in England  
  
and this was the first particularly pleasant, warm, clear, sunny day they'd had  
  
since winter started. He'd even venture to say they hadn't had one since summer  
  
and his body was aching to feel the sun on his back, the wind in his hair and  
  
his mind yearned for some distraction. He heard a soft popping sound behind him  
  
and smiled. His distraction had arrived.  
  
"You owled, Dumbledore?" Alastor Moody asked him.  
  
"Yes, I did," Albus replied, turning to face his visitor, "and you arrived  
  
just in the nick of time." He reached over and took his hat off the coat hook  
  
and opened the front door, gesturing for Moody to go out ahead of him but the  
  
auror did not move. Instead, he eyed him suspiciously, his blue eyes piercing  
  
Dumbledore's as though he were trying to guess at his motive. "What is this all  
  
about, Albus? You aren't expecting me to help you gather more dragon's blood are  
  
you? After what happened last time, I'd hope you'd know I won't be doing that  
  
again."  
  
"Oh, don't be ridiculous," Dumbledore chided, "Mungo's healed you up in no  
  
time. The only lasting aftereffects you have are those scars."  
  
Moody rubbed the rough, brown areas on his face and gave Dumbledore the  
  
most sinister look he could muster. "For the fiftieth time, I am an Auror,  
  
Albus, not an alchemist, not a dragon tamer and I am most certainly not your  
  
research assistant anymore." He straightened his back and Dumbledore recognized  
  
the telltale signs of a man preparing to apparate.  
  
"Now, now, Alastor," Dumbledore said soothingly, "I have no intention in  
  
making you conduct research for me or with me. I just want you to come with me."  
  
"I can't. When I received your owl I was in the middle of working on a  
  
very important case-"  
  
"A dark wizard this time or just another muggle-baiter?"  
  
"Oh, you can never tell," Moody said dismissively. "The times have been  
  
quiet enough, they just have us chase them all down instead of bothering with  
  
the details. But the point is that I had almost found the man," Moody groused.  
  
"Don't worry, I'm sure he won't go anywhere while you're gone."  
  
"Hmpf. In weather like this? Of course he'll go somewhere."  
  
"Then maybe we'll run into him while we're out."  
  
"I doubt that. Besides," Moody added quickly, I can't go anywhere. I've  
  
forgotten my hat."  
  
"You can borrow one of mine," Dumbledore offered, throwing him a green  
  
bowler hat and ushering him out the door, which he slammed shut behind them with  
  
a sigh of satisfaction. They were outside, in the beautiful world. Moody  
  
followed him, the hat still in his hand.  
  
"What kind of hat is this? Look, Albus-"  
  
"Oh, just put it on! I assure you green suits you well," Dumbledore told  
  
him.  
  
Moody glared "I wasn't referring to the way it looked on my Albus," but he  
  
pulled it down on his head nonetheless and ran his hand over the rim as he  
  
strode next to Dumbledore. "Odd type of hat. Is it muggle?"  
  
"Yes, I just bought it a few days ago," Dumbledore replied and glanced at  
  
his friend out of the corner of his eye. "I must admit it does look remarkably  
  
good on you."  
  
"Does it? Well, I've never been much of a fan of muggle things but-" Moody  
  
broke off, having realized Dumbledore had successfully distracted him from his  
  
original topic. Not for long, though. "Why did you owl me? Your message didn't  
  
say much and you still haven't answered my question," he continued doggedly.  
  
Dumbledore took a deep breath before answering. Moody could be very  
  
fanatical about his work; it was one of his most endearing qualities and he  
  
probably would not take Dumbledore's explanation well. Oh well, out with it. "I  
  
fancied a stroll through the countryside on this beautiful day," he answered  
  
swiftly, hoping to fend off protests before they arose. "And, as it is a  
  
commonly known fact that the best strolls are the ones one takes with a  
  
companion I thought-"  
  
He didn't get a chance to finish. "You mean to tell me you sent me an owl  
  
requesting my immediate presence just because you wanted to go on a walk?"  
  
Clearly his efforts at legilimens were paying off, Albus mused. As he had  
  
expected, Alastor was less than thrilled with this explanation. He nodded and  
  
Moody very nearly exploded. "Albus, I was this close to cracking my case!" He  
  
held his fingers out about half an inch apart.  
  
"And, my dear friend, you will still be that far apart by the end of the  
  
day," Dumbledore assured him. "Your case will not regress while you are  
  
refreshing your mind and sharpening your eyes to recognize details they may have  
  
missed before."  
  
Alastor gave him a skeptical look then turned away, following Dumbledore  
  
begrudgingly down the path. Dumbledore smiled; Moody would never admit it but he  
  
was probably grateful for the interruption. They continued in silence for a  
  
moment, which Alastor abruptly broke by asking harshly, "Were you able to make  
  
it to that concert in London last week you were so keen about?"  
  
"No, unfortunately not," Dumbledore answered with a sigh. "Everard invited  
  
me to dinner. He wanted to try to convince me to accept a position at Hogwarts  
  
again."  
  
Moody chuckled. "He still hasn't given up, has he?"  
  
"No, he has not."  
  
"What did he offer you this time?"  
  
"He is very eager to get me onto the staff, so he offered pretty much  
  
anything I wanted. Any position, any pay."  
  
"Indeed?"  
  
"Well, he forgot to mention certain limitations. When I suggested  
  
groundskeeper, he looked a little flustered and told me he already had an  
  
adequate man for that position."  
  
"How unchivalrous of you, Albus, to give the poor man nightmares! Having  
  
the great Albus Dumbledore, who helped discover the Philosopher's Stone as his  
  
groundskeeper!" Moody was loosening up now and the two of them laughed; Moody's  
  
harsh and scratchy.  
  
"Ah," Dumbledore said, wiping his eyes, "on days like this I would not  
  
mind having such a position. The fresh air would do me good."  
  
"Yes, because you spend so much time cooped up inside, working on some  
  
inane project," Moody deadpanned.  
  
"I do."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I'm not lying."  
  
"Of course not." Albus refused to respond this time. The two of them had  
  
been through this same conversation countless times since Moody had left his  
  
position as Dumbledore's assistant. Moody had taken the route of the overly  
  
dedicated auror whereas Dumbledore continued on his path to becoming a highly  
  
successful, if not slightly eccentric, independent researcher. This left him  
  
with ample time to pursue his favorite leisure activities, such as nine-pin  
  
bowling, while trying to get his creative juices flowing. Moody preferred to  
  
call it "procrastination" and "living obscenely off of his benefactors funds  
  
until they ran out and he needed something to secure more funds." They both knew  
  
he was joking. At least, Dumbledore sincerely hoped he was.  
  
"Merlin's beard! Will you look at that!" Moody exclaimed, thrusting  
  
Dumbledore out of his thoughts and back onto the garden path, which had turned  
  
into a road as they headed towards the nearby village. "What is that  
  
contraption?" Moody was pointing at a black box-shaped object on four wheels  
  
sitting on the side of the road. It looked like a carriage but there was a  
  
conspicuous lack of horses and Dumbledore was just as puzzled as his friend  
  
until the image clicked with something he'd learned from Everard on his trip to  
  
London.  
  
"Yes, I remember hearing about these," he said as they came near it.  
  
"They're called automobiles, or horseless carriages. Some sort of recent muggle  
  
invention to make their way of travel more efficient than their beasts of  
  
burden." He peered at it closely. "I've been wanting to get a closer look at one  
  
of these."  
  
"And now you've got your chance." Moody studied the automobile with a  
  
skeptical look on his face. "Looks rather inefficient, doesn't it?"  
  
Dumbledore examined it carefully. "I wonder how it runs." The seats  
  
offered no clue, nor did the bane of glass in front of it. He bent down to look  
  
beneath it.  
  
"Not floo powder, that's for sure. Perhaps a potion of some sort?" Moody  
  
suggested and opened a side door.  
  
"They're muggles, Alastor," Dumbledore reminded him but he wasn't sure  
  
Moody heard as his voice was rather muffled with his head under the auto. All he  
  
could see under there were pipes leading this way and that. There seemed to be a  
  
few empty spaces above him and he reached his hand up one of them, groping  
  
around to see if it would reveal anything. He felt something, took his wand out  
  
and lit it but before he could use it to illuminate anything, a loud voice  
  
called out, "Hello there! May I help you gentlemen?" Dumbledore quickly  
  
extinguished his wand, crawled out from underneath the car and looked up to see  
  
a muggle man, dressed up smartly in a suit with a thin veneer of politeness  
  
across his face.  
  
"Yes," Dumbledore answered, hoping that if he talked enough the man would  
  
not notice their odd clothing. "We find your automobile very intriguing. You  
  
see, out here in the country one does not usually see many automobiles. Do you  
  
think you could show us how it works?"  
  
The man relaxed, introduced himself as Mr. Harrington and Dumbledore could  
  
see the wheels of his mind turning over the thought that these were just a  
  
couple of odd country bumpkins in equally odd clothing messing around with  
  
technology that, were it not for him, they would have never have had the  
  
opportunity to explore. "Of course!" Mr. Harrington replied silkily. "It's not  
  
too challenging though I assure you, it does move quite a bit faster than the  
  
horses and mules you're probably used to." Albus smiled at Moody when he heard  
  
this and Moody grunted back irritably in reply.  
  
"Yes, I'm quite sure of that," Albus responded. "Things do seem to be  
  
getting faster these days."  
  
"Well, I can tell you Mr. -er,"  
  
"Jones," Albus supplied.  
  
"Jones, that this machine will get you anywhere at speeds upwards of 30  
  
miles an hour."  
  
Albus stroked his chin thoughtfully and said, "Really? My, how things do  
  
advance." Moody broke into a fit of coughing at this and the man looked at him  
  
in concern. "Oh, pay him no mind. My cousin has just been feeling a bit under  
  
the weather lately."  
  
"Oh, yes, I see," Mr. Harrington looked at Moody uncomfortably again then  
  
approached the car. "If I may--?" Moody got up, moved to the back and crossed  
  
his arms in front of him like a spoiled child. Mr. Harrington sat down behind  
  
the wheel with Albus in the passenger seat next to him. He and Moody peered  
  
curiously at the owner. He smiled and pulled a key out from his pocket. "Now,  
  
gentlemen, if you will observe, it is really quite simple. You merely insert the  
  
key, press in on the clutch, turn the key and viola-," a grating sound came from  
  
the engine thatcaused Moody to start and raise his wand quickly. Dumbledore  
  
motioned him down and he eased back into his seat, still eyeing the  
  
surroundings, mistrustfully. The muggle, however, smiled reassuringly. "Oh, it's  
  
all right. Nothing to be nervous about; this is all perfectly normal. I can't  
  
count the number of horses I've scared starting up this contraption around  
  
them."  
  
"Oh, don't mind him. He's always been a jumpy sort. Now, how does this  
  
automobile go?" Dumbledore peered over at the driver's consol curiously and  
  
successfully redirecting Mr. Harrington's attention towards it.  
  
"Ah, yes. Well, it's really quite simple. You press in the clutch, shift it into  
  
gear," he moved a stick with a harsh sound, "press the gas and you go!" The car  
  
lurched forward and so did Dumbledore and Moody. They drove along in silence for  
  
a few minutes with no sound other than the engine and nature surrounding them.  
  
After noting Alastor's attempts to gain his attention, Albus glanced over at  
  
their driver, who was watching the road with a self-satisfied look on his face.  
  
"I don't suppose you would be opposed to letting us try driving it, now would  
  
you?" He suggested.  
  
"Er, what?" Mr. Harrington took his eyes off the road to give Dumbledore an  
  
incredulous look.  
  
"I asked if you would be terribly opposed letting us drive your  
  
automobile."  
  
Mr. Harrington's face fell. "Well, I don't know-you see, these are quite  
  
a bit trickier to handle than your average horse-and-cart."  
  
A whispered spell from the back seat reached Dumbledore's ear and looked  
  
to catch Moody hastily putting his wand back into his robes. "I think you will  
  
find us more than up to the challenge," Moody responded.  
  
"Well," Mr. Harrington seemed to waver and he glanced at Dumbledore and  
  
searched his eyes for reassurance. "All right. I'll let you have a go at it." He  
  
stopped on the side of the road and turned off the car."  
  
"Wonderful," Moody said and without missing a beat, scrambled up into  
  
the front seat, displacing their host onto the side of the road, which was  
  
clearly not what he had in mind. With the motions of an old hand, he deftly  
  
started the engine, shifted it into gear, put on the gas and drove off.  
  
"Hey!" Mr. Harrington yelled. "I didn't say you could drive it  
  
without me!"  
  
Dumbledore peered over at Mr. Harrington, who was now running beside  
  
the car, one hand on his hat. "Really, Alastor, a suggestive charm? I thought  
  
most aurors would find that unethical."  
  
Moody shrugged. "I thought it would save you time trying to  
  
convince him and the sooner you get to drive this thing, the sooner this walk is  
  
over and the sooner I get back to my case. Besides, it seems to have worn off  
  
already." Mr. Harrington was neck and neck with the car, trying to jump onto it  
  
with one hand while his other remained firmly on top of his hat.  
  
"This is--- theft--- you---know!" He yelled between huffs and  
  
attempted to leap into the vehicle.  
  
"If you are planning on outrunning him, Alastor," Dumbledore  
  
suggested gently, "You might want to consider going faster than 10 miles an  
  
hour."  
  
"What? Oh---yes, that might help." He looked down at the shifting  
  
gear, then up at the speedometer, then down at the pedals. He frowned, wrinkled  
  
his brows, attempted moving one or the other to speed up, found none of them  
  
produced anything save a terrible rumbling sound from the engine and whipped out  
  
his wand. "Merlin, all these contraptions and not a single one of them with the  
  
efficiency of a simple speed charm." He caste the spell and the car gave a lurch  
  
and immediately began to accelerate, pinning the two of them against their seats  
  
and two of their hands upon their hats. Moody grimaced at Dumbledore and yelled,  
  
"This, Albus, is why the muggles will never advance farther than wizards. How  
  
many years have we been charming broomsticks with that spell and they just now  
  
develop a way to go anywhere at 30 miles an hour?"  
  
Dumbledore nodded absently. "I'm glad you approve," he answered. "Now  
  
let me drive."  
  
Moody glanced over at him. "What? I just started to get the hang of  
  
it."  
  
"If you'll recall it was I who suggested to our dear friend Mr.  
  
Harrington that he lend us his car." They both turned and glanced backwards down  
  
the road where no Mr. Harrington was in sight. Laughing, they turned back to the  
  
front.  
  
Moody continued, "and if you'll recall it was I who turned that into a  
  
real suggestion."  
  
"Come now, you said so yourself that the sooner you let me drive, the  
  
sooner you could get back to your case."  
  
Moody frowned, clearly considering the implications of this. "Alright.  
  
But five minutes. That's it." Dumbledore nodded and got up.  
  
Switching seats is complicated in most vehicles and even more  
  
complicated when the vehicle is one of the first ones to developed and the two  
  
attempting the switch are wearing ankle-length robes and speeding down the road  
  
at 50 miles an hour. "Watch out, you've stepped on my robe."  
  
"Sorry-ow! That was my foot!"  
  
"My hair, you've got my hair in your glasses."  
  
"Watch the road! Here, just put your hand on the steering wheel, I'll  
  
move into your seat and then you sit down in mine!" Moody shifted over quickly  
  
and Dumbledore found himself half-standing in the now vacant driver's seat.  
  
"That wasn't too difficult," he said as straightened his glasses and  
  
sat down. "Now, what does this pedal do?" He pressed it and nothing happened.  
  
"It's under a speed charm, Dumbledore, none of the pedals do much  
  
of anything at the moment."  
  
"Hmmmm." A quick swish of the wand and the car relaxed and slowed  
  
down to a much more timely 10 miles an hour. Moody contorted his face in  
  
displeasure. "If I am to drive this car, it will be I that does the driving-not  
  
some spell," Dumbledore explained patiently. He peered down his long nose at the  
  
floor pedals. "Now, let's see-I believe he pressed in this one and then-" He  
  
shifted the gear changer over and the engine rumbling decreased noticeably. "Ah  
  
ha! I believe I have just switched gears."  
  
"From eccentric to lunatic?" Moody asked. Dumbledore ignored him.  
  
"Yes, look, we are now going 20 miles an hour! Let's see if I can't-  
  
-" He did and the car began to pick up more speed and Dumbledore beamed with  
  
satisfaction. "You know, I might just have to get one of these. Not only are  
  
they pure joy to drive but, as you yourself have already demonstrated, they are  
  
just as easy to magically manipulate as trains, carpets and other muggle  
  
objects."  
  
"Great. Now we have start watching out for biting automobiles in  
  
addition to teacups. Are you watching the road?" Moody grabbed the steering  
  
wheel and turned it abruptly.  
  
"Let go!" Dumbledore swatted away Moody's hands. "I am watching the  
  
road. It is perfectly okay for me to take my eyes off of it for a few seconds,  
  
so stop meddling."  
  
"Meddling? I've never seen worse driving in my life! Look how close  
  
you are to that hedge!"  
  
"Fifteen minutes ago you'd never seen any driving in your life,  
  
therefore, your judgments on this matter carry very little weight," Dumbledore  
  
retorted as he guided the automobile closer to the middle of the road. The road  
  
was narrower than he thought and a scraping sound filled the car.  
  
"Move over that way!" Moody scolded, reaching again for the steering  
  
wheel.  
  
"Mind your own business!"  
  
"Oh sod it, Dumbledore, let me have the wheel!" Moody said through  
  
gritted teeth.  
  
"For someone who didn't even want to go on a walk in the first place  
  
you certainly are putting up a fight now!" Dumbledore retorted.  
  
"I, for one, care about the condition in which we return this  
  
automobile to its owner."  
  
"Oh, and I don't?" Just as they were really beginning to get into it,  
  
a crunching sound filled the car and they looked up just in time to get a face-  
  
full of branches.  
  
"You weren't watching the road!" Moody yelled, letting go of the  
  
steering wheel to protect his face as the hedge's branches scrapped painfully  
  
over their faces. They careened through the hedgerow as Dumbledore struggled to  
  
find a way to get the car back on the road. Pulling sticks out of his hair, he  
  
shouted at Moody, "How could I have been watching the road while I was watching  
  
you, trying to make sure you didn't take over command?"  
  
"Merlin's beard, we're not on a ship," Moody shouted back, "There  
  
is no chain of command!"  
  
Dumbledore opened his mouth to reply, glanced at the road and forgot  
  
all intent. "Tree!"  
  
"What?" Moody turned to look in front of the car and frantically began motioning  
  
at Dumbledore. "Break! Break! Press the break!"  
  
"Which one is the break?" Dumbledore pressed on a couple but with the  
  
car only went faster.  
  
"No, not that one," the driving expert shouted, "The other one!"  
  
"Which one?"  
  
"The other one!"  
  
CRASH!  
  



	2. Part 2

Dumbledore awoke a moment later to see a fuzzy face in front of him. The  
  
image cleared and he saw a bloody fuzzy face in front of him that turned out to  
  
be Moody, now sporting a long gash down the side of his check. "Wod happen?" He  
  
asked then frowned. That didn't come out in quite the way it should have. He  
  
opened his mouth again to speak but got a mouthful of something salty instead.  
  
He moved his hand towards his face but Moody stopped him. "Don't mess with it,  
  
you've got a broken nose. Really, you're lucky. With the way you hit that tree,  
  
I thought you'd have more than just that."  
  
"Wod boud de glass?"  
  
"The glass?" Moody glanced behind them, then frowned deeply. "Ah, yes, the  
  
glass. Lucky for you I seem to have hit the glass first." His hand went up to  
  
the gash on his face. "I'm afraid your hat got a bit ripped and, well, bloodied  
  
in the process." He showed him the now green and red bowler hat. Dumbledore  
  
stared at it for a moment, while wondering why Moody was showing him a hat while  
  
there was blood everywhere and an unpleasant ache in his left shoulder. He  
  
shrugged and moved over slightly to look at the horseless carriage and he  
  
immediately wished he hadn't. It was a complete loss. Dumbledore has seen  
  
broomsticks that looked more capable of flying after being burnt halfway to  
  
ashes by a dragon than this car looked capable of driving. "Oh, no," he bled out  
  
and Moody shook his head in sorrow. "I know. I think Mr. Harrington might not be  
  
so thrilled to have it back now."  
  
Dumbledore took out his wand. "We fiks dad." He waved it and said,  
  
"Reparo!" Immediately, all the little glass shards zoomed back to where they  
  
belonged in the glass pane. The very large dent in the front of the automobile,  
  
on the other hand, remained exactly has it had been before: Dented, cracked, and  
  
imbedded in the side of a tree.  
  
"I think that only works on glass," Moody said helpfully and Dumbledore  
  
gave him a cold look.  
  
"We can'd leaf id here!"  
  
Moody shrugged. "We could leave him some money. Do you have any muggle  
  
money?" Dumbledore's irritation increased, compounded by the throbbing in his  
  
nose.  
  
"Yesh, I karry id around in my bag poget, jusd like yoor wand," he spit  
  
out as ferociously as he could with a broken nose.  
  
"All right, All right, just calm down. I just wondered. Oh well, he can  
  
cash in some gold galleons I'm sure." He paused. "Er. Will we actually be  
  
returning this car or just leaving it here?" They sat there for a moment,  
  
staring at them and wondering exactly what the consequences would be were they  
  
to merely leave the unsightly mess in the field. Moody ended their silent  
  
reverie by throwing a couple of galleons onto the seat of the automobile. "We  
  
may be wizards but I've heard of cases where muggles have killed with their bare  
  
hands. I'm not carrying this contraption back to him and getting killed for it.  
  
I doubt it can even drive." He then turned and kneeled down in front of  
  
Dumbledore, his wand pointing towards him. Dumbledore got a very bad feeling.  
  
"Wad'r you doink?"  
  
"I'm going to fix your nose. You don't want to walk around with a broken  
  
nose, do you?"  
  
Even if Dumbledore had been feeling generous towards his friend at the  
  
moment, he still would not have completely trusted Moody's healing skills. As it  
  
was, he wasn't going to let him within ten feet of his nose. "No! No!" Dond  
  
dough it!"  
  
"Come on now, I've had basic field healing, I know how to repair a broken nose!"  
"I dond care! I dake care of id meselp." Dumbledore climbed to his feet,  
  
leaning heavily against Moody's shoulder, straightened up, and apparated home.  
  
It had been a beautiful day, he thought, as he bandaged up his wounded  
  
nose and sat down to drink the only thing in the world that could make him feel  
  
better, a nice hot cup of tea, alternated with a nice tall mug of brandy. It had  
  
been a beautiful day, in fact, right up to the point when he decided it would be  
  
a good idea to test drive a muggle automobile. He sighed and looked at the clear  
  
sky, heard the birds chirping outside of his window and felt the sun streaming  
  
in through the window. He sighed again, set his beverages down on his table and  
  
bent down to finish his research. It was a few years later before he realized  
  
that Moody still had his hat. 


End file.
